To Address the Nursing Faculty Shortage, Start with the Salary Gap

Authors

Jacqueline Christianson, Marquette UniversityFollow
Christine A. Schindler, Marquette UniversityFollow
Lisa M. Grabert, Marquette UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2025

Publisher

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

Source Publication

American Journal of Nursing

Source ISSN

0002-936X

Original Item ID

DOI: 10.1097/AJN.0000000000000032

Abstract

Nurses must advocate with policymakers for meaningful change.

There is a national shortage of nursing faculty to educate the future nurse workforce. The biggest barrier to recruiting and retaining nursing faculty is the salary gap between the faculty and clinical nursing roles. Many full-time nursing faculty earn a lower salary than the new graduate nurses they educate. According to our recent research (American Nurse, July 2024), NPs who have a comparable education level to nursing faculty take an average $43,000 pay cut if they leave clinical practice to teach full-time. Even the salaries of PhD-prepared faculty often lag well behind clinical NP salaries. The faculty role is vital to the health of the profession, and it is particularly important to recruit excellent educators with relevant clinical experience.

Comments

Accepted version. American Journal of Nursing, Vol. 125, No. 3 (March 2025): 8. DOI. © 2025 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc. Used with permission.

Recommended Citation

Christianson, Jacqueline; Schindler, Christine A.; and Grabert, Lisa M., "To Address the Nursing Faculty Shortage, Start with the Salary Gap" (2025). College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications. 1034.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/nursing_fac/1034